Spartans face tough Bob Jones team in first round

Mountain Brook QB Hamp Sisson (10) attempts a pass during a game between Mountain Brook and Ramsay on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, at Lawson Field in Birmingham.

Mountain Brook High School head football coach Chris Yeager hopes a similar situation unfolds this fall.

Last year, his Spartans defeated Ramsay in the final week of the regular season. Ramsay took the lessons learned from its first defeat of the season and used it as the catalyst for its Class 6A state championship run.

The two teams faced off once again this fall in the final regular season contest, with Ramsay turning the tables and handing Mountain Brook (7-3) a 28-7 defeat.

Yeager can only hope that the game has a similar effect on the losing team this time around.

“Last year, we beat (Ramsay), and they were where we are now, and they came back and won the state championship,” Yeager said. “What they did is they erased all that and played forward. What we’ve got to do is load it up and go.”

Last week’s loss is certainly something the Spartans wish they could erase altogether, as they managed just 41 first-half yards, surrendered two special teams touchdowns and only dented the scoreboard in the final minutes.

“They just played a great game,” said Yeager. “They outcoached us. I take responsibility. Our kids weren’t as ready as I wanted them to be, and that’s my fault.”

In order to parlay the loss into momentum, Mountain Brook will first have to get past a trip to Bob Jones in the first round of the Class 7A state playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Madison City Schools Stadium.

Bob Jones earned the No. 2 seed from Region 4, as the Patriots posted a 7-3 overall record and a 6-1 region mark, with its only defeat coming at the hands of unbeaten Hewitt-Trussville. Mountain Brook secured the No. 3 seed in Region 3.

After the loss to Hewitt-Trussville, Bob Jones won three straight region games before taking its open week last week. The Patriots finished 7-1 after beginning the season with consecutive defeats to season-ending No. 1 teams in Central-Phenix City (7A) and Austin (6A).

The meeting will mark the fourth in series history between the two teams, with Bob Jones holding a 2-1 edge. They last met in 2012 in the second round of the playoffs. Mountain Brook edged the Patriots in that contest, 14-13.

The winner of the game will take on the winner between Thompson and Huntsville in the second round on Nov. 17.